Tolerance
by ChaiBubbles
Summary: Stuck in a cave with an S-class Criminal? Not her idea of fun. Deidara and Tenten.
1. Daze

AN: This is the first chapter of a what I am currently planning on being a 4 to 5 chapter story...though nothing has been finalized yet!! And just so you know, this takes place during the timeskip.

Yes I know Deidara is dead. In my world none of my favorite characters die...lol

Anyway, enjoy! Reviews are love :D

Tolerance

(Daze)

There was a very peculiar crackling sound. The noise had been tugging at the shadowy edges of Tenten's unconsciousness for quite sometime now, noticeable enough for her to somehow blindly acknowledge it, but too faint for her to wake by it. It flicked over and over again, sounding continuously somewhere in blackness of her numb mind, as if prodding her to stir from her sleep. Then it would fade, as if it had never been there. It went on like this for what seemed like decades, but after awhile, the sound grew in volume, and soon she was roused into awakening. As she groggily struggled to open her eyes, her vision was overtaken by something flashing a startling bright orange-yellow, causing her to quickly shut her eyes again. She felt splashed with smooth heat which evenly coated her whole body. At first, it was comforting to be greeted from cold, dark unconsciousness by warmth, so much that she considered falling back asleep. However, when she took note of the rough, bumpy surface she was lying on, the sensation puzzled Tenten, and as she felt something smoldering lick her elbow, her eyes immediately snapped back open.

The crackling sound was actually coming from the sizzling embers of a strong-looking fire. The inferno blazed in Tenten's honey-tinted eyes, and momentarily she thought she was being roasted alive. Her dazed inquiries on the situation were quickly enveloped with fear at the thought, and she made a sharp intake of a breath which sounded like a partially strangled gasp.

Her noise caught the attention of a certain someone sitting across from her, on the other side of the fire.

Her ears perked at the low, ominous voice.

"Ah, finally awake I see, un."

The statement seemed to shoot a total realignment of reality through Tenten. She twitched on the ground, realizing she was in bindings. The thick rope bound her wrists and ankles together. Going on her first instinct, she struggled wildly within them, desperately trying to free herself. Though there were several other things another shinobi might have done at that point, like ask questions or scan the area, the fact was that in Tenten's mind, she had been dominated, and she didn't like that at all. No questions asked, the first thing she wanted to do was liberate herself.

However, as hard as she tried for freedom, her attempts were futile, something that her captor didn't hold back on letting her know of.

A laugh came from the other side of the fire.

"I would tell you that's useless, un," drawled the voice humorously, "but the way you pointlessly try and break those bindings is sort of cute."

Freezing at the voice, Tenten's body went stiff and she laid motionlessly on the ground. Too weak to try and hoist herself up, she tried to look through the fire to match a face to the what had been spoken, but the glowing flames only made her eyes burn. She squinted her eyes when she finally decided to talk, and as hard as she tried to speak in an even tone, her words came out sounding quite fatigued.

"Wha…what happened?" she asked in a whisper, "Where am I?"

Another chuckle was heard.

"What's that?" said the mystery voice, "Speak up, un."

Tenten's brow furrowed in annoyance.

"I said," she repeated, "Where am—"

She didn't get a chance to finish since the abrupt action of the mystery man dragging her around the fire towards him cut her off. He had grabbed her by her collar, and for the split second where his fingers had brushed up against her neck she near-shivered when she felt incredibly thick calluses. When her body came to a halt, she found herself staring at the back of a dirty ninja shoe, and slowly, she looked up into the garish smile of a madman.

"We're in a cave, un!" he exclaimed happily, as if his announcement was like some rewarding surprise for the currently miserable Tenten.

"Wha—?"

Obviously, this madman enjoyed interrupting her.

"Oh I see," he said, expression changing from completely ecstatic to mildly contemplative, "you must be confused, un."

She could only nod.

"Well, the two of us were having a little date you see, un…"

"A date?" she inquired. Tenten scrutinized the man's face. It was slender with strong features, one sky blue eye and the other hidden by a large tuft of flaxen hair.

"Yeah, un," he chirped, "it was going really well, at least until…"

She quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Until your damn friends ruined it, un." he said, almost pouting. Her mind was racing. _What the hell is he talking about?_ she mentally asked herself.

"You looked so cute leaping about with your scrolls too…" he said, amidst in his own nostalgic fantasies, "like a little ballerina, un."

Then at once, memories flooded back to her like a rushing river, crashing onto the shores of her brain. She was soon engulfed in a spontaneous recollection of everything that had happened. As thoughts of before ran through her mind, the exhausted ache she felt all along her muscles and limbs suddenly made sense. She had been on a mission. Team Gai had been tailing a rogue ninja through the forest outside of Konoha's main gate, which could only mean…

"_You're the Akatsuki member?_" Tenten exclaimed, though her words were more of an annunciation of rage rather than a question. She had not recognized him since his signature rice-picker hat and cloak had been discarded, but now it was all starting to make sense.

The man nodded, seeming satisfied that she had finally put two-and-two together.

Tenten, on the other hand, could only stare in shocked disbelief at him. She remembered quite clearly. The Akatsuki member, who's name was listed in Tsunade-sama's bingo book as Deidara, was a specialist in explosives. During the battle, he had injured Lee with one of his bombs. According to Gai-sensei's orders, she and Neji were to chase Deidara down and leave him to tend to Lee's wounds. They followed his instructions of course, but Tenten made the almost-fatal mistake of thinking that with both her and Neji against the missing nin, they could take him down rather easily.

She was gravely mistaken, and though she fought to the best of her abilities and was able to shake the ninja somewhat, in the end she remembered being swarmed by tiny little birds, which exploded one by one.

The last thing she could recall was Neji's desperate call of her name, and then it all faded into black.

Tenten struggled to speak as anger was slowly building up inside her.

"But…_why?_" she asked through clenched teeth.

"Why what, un?" said Deidara, wearing a grin which infuriated Tenten even more.

"Why did you _take_ me?" she asked, almost yelling, as anger became more and more present in her tone, "Why didn't you just leave me?"

Deidara blinked at this. Then, as if to further tease Tenten's temper, he burst out laughing. For moments, she could only stare at his hysterical form, moments that she passed with thinking of various ways to skewer, maim, and mutilate him with her weapons.

"Leave you, un?" said Deidara, finally recovering from his laughter, "Why would I do that?"

"It seems like a filthy criminal like yourself would have better things to do than kidnap a little girl." she spat, knowing she was being far more caustic than usual. Though, it hardly mattered, since all her remark did was put a smirk on his face.

"You're not that little, un," he said, "you're fourteen, aren't you?"

"Yes, I believe I know my own age." Tenten hissed sarcastically.

"Well good, un!" he said, caressing her cheek with the back of his hand. She immediately jerked away. Unable, to control herself any longer, she let her mouth loose.

"Listen you dirty, clay-spitting piece of shi—"

"Hey now!" Deidara reprimanded, lightly slapping her cheek, "That's no way for a lady to speak, un."

She winced, not because he had actually hurt her, but because she felt repulsed every time he touched her. As for the way she was speaking, Tenten realized that with her little pixie voice she was never really that intimidating, but she also knew she had a bad habit of cursing when she was angry—and she was _really_ angry right now.

"Quit touching me, jackass." she muttered.

Deidara grabbed the front of her shirt and yanked her upright so she was staring right into his face. His happy expression was gone. Now he was only glowering threateningly at her.

"You're spunky, and I like that," he warned dangerously, "but if you want to make it out of here alive, un, you're going to have to watch what you say to me."

She fought his glare with her own incensed eyes. She didn't show a bit of fear, but she realized that he was right.

"Whatever." said Tenten grudgingly. Deidara threw her back to the ground. She flew face-first into the dirt. Coughing out the dust from her throat, she slowly turned back around to look at him. Tenten wasn't really surprised to see his expression had changed once again, and that he was back to being all charm.

"Well, now that _that's_ all cleared up," he said gleefully, "we can resume our fun little conversation, un!"

Tenten scowled at him and turned her face towards the fire, not wanting to look at Deidara's face for the moment.

"I still don't understand," she said with a more solemn voice, "why did you capture me? If you're thinking of a ransom then that won't work."

He chuckled, "I don't care for money, un."

"Then _why?_ Why couldn't you just leave me with my teammate…or if compassion isn't your style, you could've just killed us. But why did you take _me?_"

He ran a finger along the contour of Tenten's hip, then trailed it down her leg. Under the fabric of her pants, her skin went cold with goose bumps.

"The fact of the matter is, sweetheart," he said, "when you're an S-class criminal, and everyone hates your guts, un, you get lonely. My partner isn't with me right now, so you could only imagine how much more boring it is for me. It just seemed that my battle with you was a perfect turn of events, un. It gave me a new playmate to past the time with!"

Tenten was staring at him incredulously with wide-eyes. _Playmate?_

"Are you kidding?"

"Nope, un!"

Her eyes narrowed.

"Let me make something clear for you," she growled, "I'm not going to start a fight in an attempt to escape, but I am most definitely _not_ your bitch. I'll bite your ear off if you try anything."

"Bite my ear off, un?" he said with a wry smile, "That's kinky."

TBC.


	2. Aggression

Yeah so ffnet decided to be a butthole and randomly delete most of this chapter...I was pretty much like wtf...sorry if I'm being rude, but it made me angry, and probably made readers angry when they stumbled upon this story and discovered that almost all of chapter 2 was missing.

Tolerance

(Aggression)

Tenten was one-hundred and ten percent positive that listening to a recording of one of Gai-sensei's particularly long "youth" speeches on repeat would be more enjoyable than being trapped in this cave. For the past hour and a half she had done nothing but lay there next to Deidara, who hadn't shown the least bit of pity or remorse. He would sit there in front of the fire, occasionally mold clay, occasionally say something to Tenten of which she didn't reply, and occasionally doze off himself. It was all so infuriating she couldn't stand it, and it wasn't just because she had been utterly humiliated, but also because Deidara had the irritating ability to rub that fact in without even saying anything.

When he didn't speak to her, he would hold her under a sly glance. At first she tried staring back with her own indignant glare, but soon she looked away, realizing that she was only torturing herself. What his eyes conveyed to her, was a stinging message. They were saying, "I can do _whatever_ I want to you, and you can't do a _thing_."

_I hate you_, she thought, _so much_.

However, Tenten had a plan. Deidara was near to falling asleep for good, and when he did, she would carefully pull a kunai out of the depths of her pocket and free herself so fast that he wouldn't even have time to open his eyes before she slashed him in the face with her blade.

Warily, she caught his gaze again, feigning sadness. Surprisingly, Deidara bought her sorrow right away. _Good_, she thought_, I want to soften him a little_._ No point in planning an escape if his guard is up_.

"Aw," he said, brushing a few brown strands of hair out of her face, "don't be sad, un. I'm sure when you lighten up a little, we'll have lots of fun!"

"Hm." was Tenten's reply.

"Still not very talkative I see, un." he remarked, patting her on the head. She cringed inwardly.

"You're not tired?" she asked, innocence daintily accenting her words, "I woke up awhile ago and I'm _still_ beat."

He raised an eyebrow at this.

"I _am_ tired, un." he replied.

"Well I'm going to go back to sleep," lied Tenten, "I suggest you do the same. We're not going to have much _fun_ if we're both tired, and I assume I'm going to be with you for a fairly long time."

He pulled her by her ankle and slid her over his lap.

"So quick to give orders, un," he teased adoringly, "that's okay. I like a woman in charge."

Her face contorted into disgust but she quickly masked her true feelings with a look of indifference.

"You're so cruel to me, un," said Deidara, "I only want some company, and you're treating me as if I've murdered hundreds innocent of people…"

Tenten glared pointedly at him. He chuckled

"Perhaps that wasn't the ideal choice of words, un."

"Hmph." she huffed, screwing her eyes shut.

"Fine, kunoichi," Deidara cooed, "we'll go to sleep _together_, un."

Then, unexpectedly, he shoved Tenten off of him and sent her rolling towards the fire. She brought her own body to a stop before she got too close.

"But if we're going to sleep, un," he said, "I'm going to make myself more comfortable."

With that, the rogue reclined against the cave wall, putting his hands behind his head in a leisurely fashion. Tenten rolled her eyes, but at the same time tried to combat the bursting frustration she felt at the pit of her stomach. Turning back towards Deidara, Tenten saw that he had already shut his eyes. She let out a quick grin of satisfaction before closing her own eyes and faking slumber.

Subtly and naturally, she relaxed her own body to send off an aura signaling she was really falling asleep, but of course it was all an act. Still, even if Deidara's eyes weren't open, she knew that shinobi, rogue or not, could sense people's actions, and if she was going to fool him into thinking she was snoozing, then she had to make it completely believable.

Fortunately for Tenten, after a few minutes or so she heard soft snores coming from Deidara's direction. She took a couple of wary seconds before cracking an eye open, but when she did, she was immensely relieved to see he was sleeping quite peacefully.

_Idiot_, she thought.

She wriggled her hands in her restraints and stretched her forefinger into her right pocket. Extending it down the little fabric pouch as far as she could, Tenten dug for her kunai, her mind filled with the horrid things she would do to Deidara once she was free.

Though much to her dismay, Tenten just couldn't seem to come into contact with the cool metal handle of the lucky kunai she always kept in her pocket. Determined to find it, she stretched her finger farther and farther down her pocket, so far her joint almost popped.

_Where is it?_ she thought frantically, _I always have it wi—_

"You won't find your kunai, un."

Her whole body went frigid at the sound of Deidara's voice.

It startled her so much, she almost thought that she'd imagined it.

"H-huh?" she stuttered, inquiring more to the air than anything else.

There was movement like lightning, and before she fully knew it, Deidara was upon her, straddling her whole body.

"You think I'm stupid, un?" asked Deidara menacingly, his face dangerously close to hers.

She lay frozen for a few seconds before she trembled and shook her head.

"I saw through your little plan the minute you asked me if I was tired, un," hissed Deidara, "I just didn't think you were stupid enough to actually _try _it."

The combination of their closeness and Deidara's sinister stare sent fear coursing through Tenten's body. However, she tried her best to swallow the trepidation and regain her composure.

"Where's my kunai?" she asked. Deidara slapped a hand to her cheek. She felt the seal of his mouth opening and a slimy tongue run across her flesh.

"Your kunai," he said evilly, "is with the fishes, un. While you were out cold, I took the liberty of dumping all your precious scrolls and weaponry into a nearby river. Clever, un?"

The cave got so quiet one could hear the slither of salamanders through the rocky crevices.

Deidara would never know if Tenten thought it had been clever or not.

She was silent.

Her face was blank.

Her mind could not even begin to comprehend what had been said to her.

Deidara watched amusedly as she took a minute for it to sink in.

"You…" she said finally after what had seemed like ages, "you…"

"Yes?" he asked, rolling the tongue of his hand under his chin.

There was a very pregnant few seconds.

"BASTARD!"

Without warning Tenten ferociously smacked her forehead against Deidara's face, making him back off of her.

"Ow!" he yelled in pain, falling flat on his behind as he rubbed his nose.

He was about to spit a good load of vulgarities at the enraged girl but he didn't get the chance.

"When I get free I'm going to beat your fat ass into next Tuesday!" screamed Tenten psychotically as she writhed on the ground within her bindings. Deidara watched her as she thrashed about, his anger slowly disappearing and being replaced by delight, of which he showed with the smirk tugging at his lips.

"Do you hear me, bastard?" growled Tenten, glowering at him fiercely. Mentally, he admitted that the look on her face was slightly intimidating, but her squeaky little-girl voice only increased the hilarity of the situation.

Unable to resist, Deidara pulled her towards him again and pinched her cheek.

"I hear you, un." he said lovingly.

Tenten seethed. _Oh, what I'd do now for one of those youth speeches…_

TBC.


	3. Communication

This chappie's a lil fluffy...but not too much :D

R&R if you can pwease!!

Tolerance

(Communication)

"And so he says, 'No Deidara, art is meant to be something everlasting that never fades' and I'm all like, 'Like _hell,_ un! Art is a big bang! A quick explosion of beauty and then gone before your eyes!'"

Tenten thought of herself as a fool for making the mistake of thinking that Akatsuki members weren't a loquacious bunch. Sasuke's brother and his partner, of whom Tenten liked to call, "fish face" when she was referring to him in casual conversation, were from what she heard, not the chatty type. Naturally she generally applied that trait to all the members, but she soon learned that Deidara was the exact opposite. He talked so much one would think that excessive amounts of speech were what kept him alive.

Worse, Tenten also found that Deidara had another talent besides making her feel helpless. He had the skill of talking for hours, but somehow say exactly the same thing the whole time. At first she didn't notice, but soon all his rephrasing and redundancy piled up and she could only twitch her eye in aggravation as he said the word '_art_' for what seemed like the millionth time. He had mastered many different ways of stating the same opinion in different context, over, and over, and _over_ again.

She never spoke back, and he didn't mind. He just kept on going, droning on about how "Sasori-danna" (_Who the hell is that?_ Tenten thought repeatedly) couldn't see his point of view and didn't understand his "creative soul", how his masterpieces only bored and disinterested him, and how he couldn't come to respect Deidara as a serious artist. It was all highly overdramatic.

_Just kill me,_ pleaded Tenten.

Then, as if her karma had taken a positive turn, Deidara stopped talking. It wasn't abrupt; Tenten could register the fact that he had been talking for awhile and she just wasn't listening anymore, but the soothing silence that met her ironically grabbed her attention again. Though, as relieving as the quiet air between them was, Tenten still cast Deidara a suspicious glance.

She wasn't surprised to see him smiling that creepily happy smile that she had come to identify with. Opening her mouth, she was about to shoot him a scathing remark when…

"Wow, un!" chirped Deidara happily, unashamedly slapping her behind, "I really have to thank you—"

Tenten went stiff.

…_did he just…__**spank **__me?_

"—I've never had anyone listen to me this long, un—"

_Did he just __**SPANK **__me?_

"—and I've got to say I really appreciate it, un—"

_THAT BASTARD JUST __**SPANKED**__ ME!_

"—so thank you, un!"

_**…DAMNHIMTOHELL!!**_

Tenten ignored his gratitude on account of all the foul words running through her mind in reaction to him violating her. That was quite all right with Deidara, since he apparently didn't need a "you're welcome" or something of the like. However, he did start to look concerned with her current position.

"Hey," he asked worriedly, "why are you twitching like that, un?"

She fumed silently and didn't respond, too angry to even speak.

"You don't talk a lot, do you, un?" said Deidara.

She glared.

"I don't make it a habit of conversing with people like you." spat Tenten poisonously. To her chagrin, he just kept grinning. She desperately wanted to make him angry at the moment. She wanted to somehow piss him off so she wouldn't have to look at his agonizingly happy face, which only seemed to mock her.

He pinched her cheek again, "So sassy, un. You brunettes are feisty ones!"

She bit back the urge to retort with, "And you blondes are dumb" in respect for her friend Ino, who abhorred the stereotype.

"Why. Do. You. Keep. _Touching me?_" Tenten growled through gritted teeth.

"Don't act like you don't like it, un." Deidara admonished with a smirk.

"I _don't_ like it!" snarled Tenten.

"Hey, whatever, un," Deidara brushed her comment away like it was nothing, "so what about you? What do you think of it, un?"

"What do I think of _what?_" asked Tenten, exasperated with his vagueness.

Deidara stared at her like she was an idiot. Tenten stared at him like she was ready to commit vicious homicide.

"Of _art,_ un. What do you think of art?" said Deidara, as if it was the meaning of life, "It's only what we've been talking about for the past hour, un!"

_We? _Tenten inquired in her head. Deidara had been the one going on and on about the subject. She could care less.

"Do you want me to agree with you?" asked Tenten.

Deidara paused and thought for a moment.

"Well, that'd be nice, un," he said; his eyes suddenly glittered, "but I want your honest opinion!"

Tenten sighed.

"Well I don't know," she replied dully, "everyone interprets art in different ways."

"I know _that_," said Deidara, rolling his eyes, "but what is art to _you_, un? Everlasting, or fleeting?"

He emphasized his last word with raised eyebrows. At his question, Tenten thought momentarily about the topic. In all honesty, art to her was her jutsu—the way her scrolls danced and twirled around her, the beauty and perfection of her weapons and the way in which they yielded to and worked so gracefully with her expertise, not so much acting like tools of destruction but more like another being fighting alongside her with it's own chakra and spirit. It was the way she leapt about, agile and elegant when wielding a jian, tonfa, or nunchaku, with the unquestionable feel of smooth metal against her fingers.

"I guess my kind of art is rather…fleeting." replied Tenten soberly, thinking of how the more elaborate of her best long-range of her jutsu were rather short lived, but packed a strong force within a matter of minutes.

Deidara looked ecstatic.

"Well of course it is, un!" he chirped, teeming with joy, "I should have known, weapon summons and all that."

Her sober expression disappeared.

"Yeah, and I hate you for throwing my stuff into the river, asshole." said Tenten, quickly recalling how he had showed his appreciation for her "art". She thought sadly of how the merciless water would quickly bring about rust to the pristine steel of her blades.

"So sorry about that, un," nodded Deidara, "but I couldn't take any chances. With access to your weaponry you could've been quite a problem for me, un. But let's not kill the mood here."

"It's already dead." remarked Tenten, throwing her head to the side to avoid his gaze. He chuckled and patted her head.

"Well, at least you agree with me, un." he commented endearingly.

She paused before turning her head towards him again, smiling just the slightest bit.

"But I don't agree with you." she stated flatly. Deidara, surprised she would be so bold, gave her a confused look.

"Un?" was all he could say.

"I don't think that true art is entirely fleeting." she responded coolly.

"You think that it lasts forever, un?"

"Of course not," said Tenten like it was elementary, irking Deidara, "nothing lasts forever."

"Then what _do_ you mean, un?" he asked in annoyance, but curious nonetheless.

"When I perform long-range jutsu," explained Tenten, "I unleash a sudden burst of offensive attack as I throw my weapons, but to speak of my weapons specifically, is another story…"

Deidara looked sincerely baffled. "I…don't understand, un."

Tenten was euphoric with her own thoughts.

"A good weapon…" she said dreamily, "one crafted with skill and care, can last a lifetime…a good weapon, isn't just a weapon…it's a work of art, shining with beauty, but it can be deadly in the right hands."

"The right hands?" asked Deidara amusedly, "a four-year old can throw a kunai, un. Nothing special."

She shot him a dark look, "You're a fool."

"You're delusional," he scorned, "you play with toys that you don't even make, un. How can that be art?"

"Moron," replied Tenten tersely, "the weapons by themselves cannot complete the masterpiece, as beautiful as they might be. The art is in the form of a shinobi and her weapon working together as one entity—but this is tricky, since only a competent and adroit user can be powerful enough to make the weapon acquiesce to her. A scythe or jian will not simply let a completely ignorant dolt have control over it. Give a four-year old my weapons and he'll slaughter himself."

The cave was quiet once again, but this time Tenten wasn't silently boiling with fury like before. On the contrary, this time she was quite pleased with herself. Deidara seemed to be at a loss for words, much to Tenten's satisfaction. She lay there on the ground, looking up at him triumphantly.

"Should I put it in simple words for you?" asked Tenten with a smirk.

Instantly, he snapped out of his daze.

"No, I get it," he said smiling slowly, "your kind of art is deadly to those who can't appreciate it properly, un. Your kind of art is fleeting in some senses, but long-lasting in others. It is a combination of sorts—the tool and the artist becoming one to make the ultimate creation, sometimes in short bursts, and enduring in others, un."

Tenten nodded, watching him with neutrality. In truth she was actually little happy that they had found some sort of common ground.

"Yeah," agreed Tenten, "no dumbshit is going to be able to make my kind of art."

Deidara howled with laughter.

He grabbed Tenten and wrapped her in a bone-crushing hug.

"Oh, kunoichi!" he cried happily, "I do _so _enjoy our time together, un!"

"What—the—_hell?_" Tenten choked out as she gasped for air.

Her eyes widened when she felt his cheek rub up against her own.

"Let—me—_go!_" she demanded, trying to push away from Deidara. Though she didn't have to for long, because he cheerfully obliged to her wish. As she was thrown on the ground yet again, Tenten miserably started to realize that this was becoming a trend with the criminal.

Deidara laid a hand on her thigh and spoke affectionately.

"You truly have an artistic intellect worthy of myself." he complimented.

"Thanks." mumbled Tenten sarcastically. She started to relax on her familiar spot on the ground, ignoring the pent-up rage she felt when he started stroking her leg. It would be pointless to get angry again.

"You're something, un." he remarked warmly.

She rolled her eyes. After seconds of continuous stroking, an idea struck her.

_Might as well take advantage of the situation_.

"So…" said Tenten after moments of silence, "you gonna let me go now?"

Deidara smiled.

"Not on your life, un."

TBC.


	4. Conflict

Heheh...my favorite chappie so far...I'll leave a more in depth Author's Note at the end though :D

Tolerance

(Conflict)

Tenten was tortured by the sight of Deidara heating up a bunch of soup dumplings in a pan over the fire. The last food she could remember having was half of a sweet-bean paste bun, which she had eaten for breakfast. That was a long time ago. She was sure that it was about night at the moment, which would mean she hadn't had sufficient sustenance for the whole day. Though, she'd be damned if she ever let Deidara know she was hungry. Why, just the fact of her letting off the tiniest hint that she wanted some of his food humiliated her further. She was completely positive that she would, in no way, tell him—

Her stomach growled inhumanly.

A blue eye met her distraught brown ones.

"Hungry, un?" asked Deidara in a tone that sounded like he was enjoying every second of her discomfort.

She scowled. "_No_."

"It's okay kunoichi, un," laughed Deidara, "I have enough for two. I could feed you—"

"I'll die of starvation before I let you feed me." snapped Tenten indignantly, not willing to give up her dignity for such a trivial thing.

"Stubborn, un." Deidara noted sagely. Without another word, he returned to watch his dumplings turn a delicious tinge of light brown over the fire. Tenten swallowed her own saliva.

_Be strong Tenten_, she reassured herself in her mind, _It's only food._ _You've gone without it for far longer than a day. _

Her stomach growled again.

_Damn it_.

Deidara paused at the sound, but didn't turn to her. She was thankful, because if he gave her that same patronizing stare again she really might have lost it. Tenten watched as he plucked a single dumpling from the pan and let it sit on his palm, hastily blowing it with his cool breath.

"So hot!" he said to himself. He blew at the dumpling for about a minute's time, then he popped it into his mouth. Tenten wanted to moan with despair.

To make matters worse, Deidara proceeded to eat the dumpling in a manner of which no normal, or rather, _compassionate_ person would. He rolled the morsel around in his mouth, savoring the way it burst open, the taste of hot soupy goodness pleasuring his tongue and warming his cheeks. He cocked his head to the side, making a face of exaggerated ecstasy, and made sure Tenten suffered through it all. She watched him, unable to stop her mouth from watering as it fell open, and licked her dry lips.

After a ridiculously prolonged period of time, he finally swallowed it. Tenten came back to her senses, and immediately grew hot with rage.

"When Neji and Lee find me they're going to annihilate you." she growled.

Deidara simply snorted and grabbed another dumpling.

"Your teammates, un?" he inquired, stuffing it into his mouth.

She nodded darkly.

"Ha!" he scoffed, "Don't insult me, un. They couldn't even keep up with me in the forest."

Tenten bristled at his comment. She hated it when people underestimated her team. Fury bubbled up inside her and it was already too late to put herself in self-restraint when she started yelling.

"Oh yeah?" she said angrily, "If Neji were here he'd Jyuuken you to hell and back, and Lee, well you don't even want to see him go all Hidden Lotus on your—!"

Deidara interjected with his mouthful, "Oh please, un. I'd rather not hear horror stories about your ridiculous-looking comrade and gay-ass boyfriend."

Bits off food sputtered out of his mouth and onto her face, which to Tenten, was the straw that broke the camel's back. She maneuvered her bound feet and kicked Deidara in the knee.

"Ow, dammit!" he choked on the dumpling and hacked it out onto the ground, "What the hell was that for, un?"

He didn't get an answer. Tenten was twisting herself wildly on the ground trying to get free of the ropes. She thrashed about like a madwoman, tossing and turning until it wasn't really even about freedom anymore, but more about causing a ruckus just to spite Deidara, who most certainly wasn't pleased. He gripped her ankles like a vice, shot up from the ground, and dragged her over to the cave wall and slammed her against it.

"Stop that, un." he ordered. She winced at the impact and then fell pitifully back into the dirt. Her eyes were still frenzied with anger. Deidara, unfazed, merely left her near the wall and walked back towards the fire to continue his meal. She watched him sit back down and take another dumpling, while all she could think about was shoving him into the flames and watching him burn. It was when he started on his third dumpling that Tenten started gnawing on her restraints.

Deidara took notice of that and remarked, "Well you are hungry, un. I'm sure those ropes are full of fiber."

She shrieked with fury.

"I swear I'll kill you," she screamed, "I don't care what you say or do, but somehow, I _will_ free myself, and when I do, I'm going to find a kunai and stuff it up your backside so far you'll be shitting steel for weeks! You hear me? _WEEKS!_"

He was silent for a few minutes while he calmly chewed on his food. Tenten gritted her teeth to hold back an ear-shattering screech.

"You know, for a little girl…" said Deidara somewhat serenely, "you're quite vulgar, un. You sort of remind me of this guy I know named Hidan…"

She ignored his irrelevant comment.

"And then you know what I'm going to do?" she continued ferociously, "I'm going to smack you repeatedly with a three-headed mace—"

"…he curses like five times in a sentence…"

"—impale you on a katana—"

"…has the worst temper…"

"—stick senbon needles in your eyes—"

"…doesn't get along well with others…"

"—stab you with a pair of my stiletto heels—"

"…and carries around this big, three-bladed scythe."

"—then I'm gonna…then…I'm gonna…"

Tenten was panting. Her absolute fit of rage had finally tired her out, and though she still had a good amount of threats she could throw at him, she was simply too out of breath to go on any longer. Deidara on the other hand, was still looking utterly tranquil, and seemed to have carried on his own separate conversation while staying completely oblivious to the gruesome things Tenten had been describing.

She breathed haggardly against the wall. Deidara grabbed her by the back of her collar and pulled her body towards him again. He laid her head in his lap and patted her forehead.

"There, there," he cooed comfortingly, "now like I was saying, this Hidan guy…"

Tenten shut her eyes in frustration. She wanted to cry so badly, but knew better than to show such weakness to a criminal of such higher ninja-prowess than her own, even if she had already shown him that she was bad-tempered. Instead, she lay there, her head in his lap, and sighed tiredly.

"…carries around this huge, three-bladed scythe and does some seriously messed up stuff with it, un. Seriously, he goes crazy with the thing. And the blades are like, _giant_, un! The size of a small child! Kinda reminds me of you and your wea—"

Her ears perked up.

"Impossible." she stated bluntly, her eyes still shut.

"Un?"

"You can't wield a weapon like that without killing yourself, stupid." replied Tenten brusquely.

"What?" asked Deidara dumbly.

Tenten sighed again, "A three-bladed scythe of that size would be impossible to fight with. The head-to-handle ratio would be horribly unstable, what with the three gigantic blades unbalancing the whole weapon. Unless the guy is some muscle-bound freak, there's no way he could maneuver a thing like that and retain a shinobi's nimbleness at the same time, so quit bullshitting me."

"Wha—I'm serious, un!" argued Deidara, still trying to absorb the amount of information that had just been relayed to him.

"Whatever."

"No, really!" he said indignantly, "He really can use it well, un!"

Tenten just ignored him.

"_I'm telling the truth!_" growled Deidara shoving her off his lap, "Look, I may not be some weapons expert like you, but I've _seen_ him use it! He lifts it up like it's lighter than air, un!"

Tenten rolled to the ground and hoisted herself back up, looking at him with a glazed eye, watching as he waved his hands around in the air for effect.

"So you're telling me," said Tenten, "that this guy has enough arm strength to hold up a weapon who's head is probably three-times heavier than it's handle, and fight with it?"

Deidara nodded, "Yeah, yeah! I mean, what's so hard about it, un?"

"I don't believe you."

"What?" he barked, "Gimme a break, un! How could you not believe me! I mean haven't you ever seen a guy use one of those huge knife-things…uh what's it called? A Zan…zan-_something_…yeah, it's like that, un!"

"_Zanbato_," corrected Tenten primly, "that's different. A Zanbato's blade is one solid form, and it is long enough to take up at least three-fourths of the weapon, so it's balance is distrubuted much more sensibly. Using a weapon like that is all about shifting your weight about in the right places, and with many years of practice it can become fairly easy to use. The kind of scythe _you're_ describing however, is a whole different story. It's blades are detached forms that stick out from the handle, which disrupts the dynamics completely—"

"Shut _up_, un!" snapped Deidara in annoyance, "look little Ms. Know-it-all, I'm telling you the truth, but if you're stupid enough to not believe me than that's your problem! Jeez, a guy tries to be nice and make some casual conversation and ends up getting his head bitten off, un…"

Tenten paid no mind to his sulky muttering and laid back onto the ground, looking up at the cave ceiling while deep in thought. After a few minutes of total silence between the two of them, Tenten finally spoke.

"What was that guy's name again?" she asked curiously.

Deidara glared at her, "Hidan."

"Huh," said Tenten contemplatively, "if what you said is true—"

"It _is_, un."

"If what you said is true, than this guy must be unbelievably skilled."

"That's what I was _saying_, un."

Tenten's eyes widened slightly. Deidara watched her as she quietly mused about the subject in her head, her expression growing more and more interested by the second.

"Never in my life have I heard of such a talented person," she said in wonder, "I mean, he must be _so_ strong."

"Yeah."

"He must be really buff." said Tenten. Deidara eyed her oddly.

"Un…"

"What does he look like?" asked Tenten, quickly erecting herself so she was now sitting up, looking into Deidara's eyes intently.

"Huh?" he said hesitantly, "Uh well…he's pretty tall I guess, un. Long, slicked back silver hair…purplish-red eyes…"

"_Wow!_" Tenten gushed, "Sounds hot!"

At this, Deidara was noticeably creeped out, and slightly miffed.

"Not really, un…" said Deidara pettily, "he's got no class…doesn't wear a shirt…walks around with his cloak half-open, un…"

Tenten squealed with delight.

Deidara mentally cursed himself. That was obviously not the right thing to say.

"Look now, kunoichi," he said irritably, "I can assure you he's nothing special, un. I mean I'm like ten-times better looking…and I have a better personality, don't you think?"

She didn't answer; she just fell backwards dreamily. Deidara was really starting to consider mentioning Hidan's psychopathic obsession with Jashinism to turn her off, when she erupted into mad giggles.

"All that _and_ a master of such a difficult-to-use weapon? Sexy!"

That was it. He had had enough. Snarling, he grabbed Tenten and held her close to his chest, almost suffocating her.

"No, he's _not_ sexy, un," scolded Deidara, "but it doesn't matter. Hidan's not the one who's holding you captive at the moment, so you can just forget about him, un!"

And that was that. Fuming, Deidara sat there against the wall, clutching her to his chest so tight that he was almost on the verge of breaking her spine. Tenten didn't mind the pain though, and she stayed quiet for the most part, that is until…

"You got a picture of him?" she asked hopefully.

"NO, DAMMIT!"

TBC.

* * *

AN: Aw I love Hidan...and I'm sure Tenten would too. Too bad Deidara has already claimed her as his...oh, and to clear something up--when I say "soup dumplings" I'm not talking about dango. It's something totally different. Chinese Food, actually. I just wanted to say that in case anyone was unsure.

Oh, and yeah, Tenten's pretty foul-mouthed! Probably the reason why I thought of the comparison to Hidan...heheh...R&R!


End file.
